BPM is another buzzword that has different meaning for every software camp. In essence, it is the effort of defining, managing, executing, monitoring and reporting of business processes. Isn’t this the promise of ERP software? ERP software intersects the function area of BPM but they are not the same. As I jump into the terminology, it was really a confusing topic to find out the differences.
ERP software has rigid built-in process definitions and it is hard to change dramatically. Although there are many parameter definitions and settings to make it flexible, it is not as flexible as it is in the BPM software area. In BPM, you can dynamically alter the definitions of processes whereas in ERP software this is achieved via hard-coded customizations.
On the other hand, BPM suits lack predefined built-in processes for enterprises. In absence of ERP system, we would have to understand and define all business processes ourselves. ERP already contains these definitions without any extra effort. ERP software is mature enough and matches most of the need of enterprise processes.
There are 2 points that ERP systems can leverage from BPM concepts:
1- Workflow: Workflow is the core part of BPM (Workflow versus BPM is another discussion topic) that enables us flexible activity (process) definitions. Many ERP systems added this capability to their package with different functional structure. Workflow can eliminate the rigid nature of ERP systems and provide an additional logical layer on top of the ERP. We can easily model process definitions cooperating with ERP processes without any coding or customization. Workflow uses ERP data events to forward the workflow activities.
2- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): Document or data exchange amongst the systems is possible with EDI function. This function is also covered by BPM software. Message exchange is done via some messaging servers. Most common example is sales or purchase order transactions. A transaction message from one company to another transferred without manual data entry. Web services with XML format may be the new definition of EDI function. We define the activities in workflow and its remote activities can be executed via EDI. Email system is another medium used for this purpose.
Anybody entered this field is to be overwhelmed with the definitions; BPML, BAM, Workflow patterns, EAI, WfMC standards, many vendors’ varying solutions for BPM. My last comment about BPM is that it can be used without ERP but it would be much more functional when used with ERP software.
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